ARMAGH 0-16 TYRONE 0-5
Richard Bullick at St Paul’s
Champions Armagh made it two wins from two in their National League title defence courtesy of what was a widely-expected victory over nearest neighbours Tyrone in Lurgan on Sunday, though the hosts had to fight hard for first half parity.
Having top-scored in the previous Saturday’s away win against Kerry, Niamh Reel again led the way for the Orchard outfit, this time contributing a total of eight points, five of them from frees as Armagh pulled away to triumph by a commanding margin.
However, this was a spirited performance from Tyrone, who must have travelled to Taghnevan with a sense of foreboding after scoring just two points at home to Meath in their opening game back in the top flight after an eight-season absence.
But the visitors had posted twice that tally midway through the first half here and actually led by three as all Armagh had to show for their first quarter efforts was a point by the always lively Emily Druse.
A nice point by Reel meant the orangewomen went in level at five apiece after a low-scoring first half but, whether or not fuelled by some hair-dryer treatment from the Armagh management, they then raised three white flags within 97 seconds of the resumption.
By contrast, Tyrone didn’t score at all in the second period as Armagh added a total of 12 points without reply ahead of travelling to Parnell Park this Saturday (3.30pm, TG4) to face a Dublin side coming off the back of a shock loss to Kildare at the weekend.
Disappointingly denied the use of the Athletic Grounds for their first home league game since being crowned champions last April, the Armagh women were grateful to St Paul’s GFC for hosting this Ulster derby battle between traditional rivals.
Armagh joint gaffers Joe Feeney and Darnell Parkinson named the 15 players who actually started in Tralee last time out, with Wolfe Tones teenager Eimear McGeown again deputising for injured former Orchard skipper Kelly Mallon up front.
However, there were two changes to the published line-up ahead of throw-in, with Blaithin Mackin – who scored 1-1 off the bench against Kerry – coming in for Eve Lavery, who had gone off injured that day, and Ciara Garvey replacing Louise Kenny.
Last time these teams met in Division One was Orchard hero Ronan Clarke’s first fixture at the Orchard helm and his side romped to a 3-20 to 0-3 away win in Drumquin in the 2016 season against a Tyrone team who went on to lose all seven regular league games.
Blaithin Mackin made her Orchard debut that day and Clodagh McCambridge got her first start in the orange jersey having been pitched into the then unfamiliar role of full back by Clarke in the absence of pregnant Armagh great Caoimhe Morgan.
That began a run of 102 starts in 103 Armagh matches for McCambridge, but her streak of 70 in a row stretching back to 2018 was broken when the Lurgan woman had to sit out the recent clash with All Ireland champions Kerry in Tralee.
McCambridge was absent again on Sunday along with Armagh’s ace markswoman Aimee Mackin, Ulster All Star Dearbhla Coleman, new national All Star Grace Ferguson and Mallon albeit the last two of those were listed on the bench.
But, like Kenny and Eve Lavery, Mallon and the elder Ferguson sister took no part in the match and, despite a welcome return to the Orchard fold after a year’s absence, Catherine Marley hasn’t been able to make it onto the field yet.
Hamstrung Sarah Quigley has also been restricted to water-carrying duties the past two weekends, with no sign in the matchday squad of Meabh McCambridge, who had pushed her way into the starting team as last season progressed.
Crossmaglen legend Lauren McConville captained the team again in McCambridge’s absence and quickly got involved in an attack with Druse but Niamh Coleman struck a post high up and Tyrone took a third minute lead with a free from Maria Canavan.
Caroline O’Hanlon, Maeve Lennon, McGeown and Reel were involved in the lead-up to Druse’s equalising score but, after evergreen veteran O’Hanlon’s second turnover of the early exchanges and another burst by McConville, McGeown kicked a towering wide.
Playing her first home match for Armagh since turning 40 last August, O’Hanlon was off target with a left-footed free from an acute angle on the right after patient build-up play and Canavan converted a second set-piece at the other end to nudge Tyrone back in front.
Armagh registered another wide and Aoife McCoy over-carried close to goal before Tyrone attacked at pace and Chloe McCaffrey pointed in the 13th minute to double the Red Hands’ lead.
Another blistering break by Druse came to nothing and Tyrone were soon three ahead, thanks to Canavan completing her hat-trick of frees. McConville did well to thwart the next opposition attack but Armagh hit another wide.
McConville got turned over coming out of defence, an uncommon occurrence, and Tyrone attacked with purpose from the accompanying free but McCaffrey rolled a great goal chance the wrong side of the post.
O’Hanlon landed a left-footed free in the 23rd minute and then produced an intercept to send McCoy on the attack, leading to another free, which the right-footed Reel converted to reduce the arrears to a single point.
Three minutes later it was all square, Reel pointing from play after Cait Towe had mopped up at the back following a Tyrone fumble but the visitors went ahead again in injury-time through Canavan’s fourth free, which was cancelled out by Silverbridge’s Reel just before the break.
Thankfully the earlier rain had stopped, for Kildare referee Eoghan O’Neill allowed the teams to return for the second half at their leisure, though Armagh really did put their foot on the gas when play finally got going.
Blaithin Mackin caught the throw-in cleanly, leading to Druse scoring her second point of the afternoon to put Armagh ahead for the first time, Coleman added another in the opening minute of the half and O’Hanlon quickly chipped in with a lovely effort from out on the left.
Suddenly the favourites were in control now and they never really looked back, although Tyrone kicked a wide and had a shot well saved by the previous Saturday’s Player of the Match Anna Carr before Roisin Mulligan stretched Armagh’s advantage to four points.
Clann Eireann captain Niamh Henderson, Player of the Match in last season’s Ulster Senior Championship showpiece, had been introduced just before then in place of young McGeown as the first of five subs used by Armagh on the day.
From a run by Druse, Garvey hoisted a steepling ball which Tyrone goalkeeper Amelia Coyle spilled before recovering and the industrious O’Hanlon got back to mop up possession when Maeve Ferguson made a good challenge as play surged down the other end.
Tyrone had another scare when Moya Feehan hung up a ball into the danger zone after McConville, generally operating out around midfield, and Henderson combined before Blaithin Mackin gave way to Derrynoose’s Caoimhe McNally late in the third quarter.
McNally had done well on her first Orchard cameo in Tralee, deftly laying the ball off for the conclusive third Armagh goal by Mulligan, and this time the promising prospect was to score her first point in the orange jersey at adult level.
Reel registered her fourth point of the match midway through the half and, with the sun now making an appearance, the Red Hand cause wasn’t helped by the sinbinning of forward McCaffrey for much of the last quarter.
The dynamic Druse won another free which Reel landed and then the Armagh Harps livewire was denied a goal by a really superb save by Coyle, though the resulting 45 led to that point from McNally, making it 0-12 to 0-5.
An ambitious shot from Mulligan dropped into the keeper’s arms but Reel pushed the home lead out to nine points by splitting the posts twice with frees, the first after Druse had given way to Granemore’s Millie Lavery.
The second of those frees was won by McCoy, the last act of the All Star’s afternoon before she and Maeve Ferguson were replaced by Killeavy duo Rebecca Cunningham – who had netted with the very first touch of her Orchard career in Tralee – and Laura Kavanagh.
Captain McConville went through the middle but pulled her shot wide while Cunningham was off-target too and Armagh missed a third chance in quick succession after Millie Lavery had caught the Tyrone kickout.
Coleman made an athletic interception in her own half after Tyrone’s McCaffrey had returned from the sinbin and Armagh added two points in injury-time, a nice strike from Lennon for her first of the season and Reel’s fifth free just before the final whistle.
Ulster All Star Henderson had almost impossibly blazed wide after being brought through by Feehan but O’Hanlon’s hunger and energy ensured Armagh got one more opportunity and she won that last free for Reel after taking return passes from Coleman and Henderson.
With two of Division One’s four fixtures not being played until the southern Bank Holiday yesterday (Mon), Armagh’s victory combined with Dublin’s 1-8 to 0-8 defeat against newly-promoted Kildare meant the Orchard crew were top of the table on Sunday night.
There will undoubtedly be tougher tests ahead for Feeney and Parkinson’s side and this was far from a perfect performance but it was a more productive day that Armagh’s last visit to St Paul’s when they were edged by Waterford in a Division Two game on Easter Sunday 2018.
Following the Armagh men’s convincing 1-23 to 0-19 victory over the Red Hands on Saturday night, the women’s win completed a comfortable Orchard double over their Tyrone counterparts at the weekend.
The last defeat for the ladies against Tyrone came in a Division Two clash in Silverbridge just before the first coronavirus shutdown when the win was thrown away with reckless substitutions but otherwise Armagh have dominated their rivals for more than a decade now.
This may not be a vintage Tyrone team but it is notable that Armagh raised no fewer than 17 flags on Sunday without any scoreboard contribution from such notable attacking names – present or absent – as the two Mackins, Mallon, McCoy, McConville and Lavery.
By contrast, for all their reasonably enterprising, purposeful football and the scoreboard being in their favour for most of that first half, Tyrone managed just a single point from open play all afternoon and already appear destined for a tough fight against relegation.
ARMAGH: A Carr; M Ferguson, C Garvey, C Towe; E Druse (0-2), L McConville (capt), R Mulligan (0-1); N Coleman (0-1), C O’Hanlon (0-2; 1f); A McCoy, M Feehan, B Mackin; N Reel (0-8; 5f), E McGeown, M Lennon (0-1). Subs used: N Henderson for McGeown (36mins), C McNally (0-1) for Mackin (43), M Lavery for Druse (54), L Kavanagh for Ferguson (56), R Cunningham for McCoy (56).
TYRONE: A Coyle; J Lyons, J Barrett, E Quinn; C Canavan, M Corrigan, A Strain; A McHugh, M Mallon; C Campbell, S Byrne, E McNamee; C McCaffrey (0-1), M Canavan (0-4; 4f), A Quinn. Subs used: A Horisk for A Quinn (36), S McCarroll for E McNamee (43), A Grimes for Canavan (46), E Conroy for Byrne (52), C Daly for Strain (57), M Moore for C Campbell (58).
Referee: Eoghan O’Neill (Kildare).
